Following several e-mails requesting a guide to Arsenal’s pre-season plans, i have assembled this complete report detailing the aspects of our return to action. Once the Gunners return to training next month, Arsène Wenger often uses this period to look at the younger playing staff, and this year promises to be no different.
The Arsenal Reserves and Under 18’s went back to light training this week, but were missing some of the boys who have been in action for their countries. Fran Mérida and Kieran Gibbs are in the Czech Republic for the Under 19 European Championships, and will be given most of the summer to relax after its completion.
The first team are back on July 7th, Pedro Botelho and Francis Coquelin will both be present, along with a few other selected young players. Vito Mannone and Aaron Ramsey will also be taking part in this session, along with the likes of Mark Randall and Jay Simpson.
Up next is the schedule the teams will follow. First is the usual trip to our Reserves stadium to play hosts Barnet, in a game which usually sees many of the Reserves take to the field. Then the first team travel to the Austrian training camp, one or two young players always fly out with them, Mark Randall and Armand Traoré have been the lucky two featuring in the past years.
The Stuttgart game could see the odd young player feature, before the Emirates Cup begins. Carlos Vela has been told he will make his debut against Juventus, and a whole host of youngsters will play some part over the two days. Huddersfield should be another game packed with Reserves, before the Amsterdam Tournament.
So an exciting and interesting pre-season in prospect, you can see the full list of every game the teams will be playing below. Match previews and reports will be available for every game in which the Reserves players feature, as we build up to the start of the new season.
Date – Venue – Team – Television Channel
July 19 – Away – Barnet – Arsenal TV/Setanta Sports
July 20 – The squad flys out for Austrian training camp
July 22 – Away – Szombathelyi – Arsenal TV
July 28 – Away – Burgenland XI – Arsenal TV
July 29 – The squad flys to German city of Stuttgart
July 30 – Away – VfB Stuttgart – Arsenal TV
July 31 – Away – Rushden & Diamonds – None
Aug 1 – The squad flys back to England For Emirates Cup
Aug 2 – Home – Juventus – Skysports
Aug 3 – Home – Real Madrid – Skysports
Aug 6 – Away – Huddersfield – Arsenal TV
Aug 7 – The squad flys out to Holland for Amsterdam Tournament
Aug 8 – Away – Ajax – Skysports
Aug 9 – Netural – Sevilla – Skysports
Aug 10 – Squad flys back to England
Aug 12 – First team season begins
TBA – Away – Crawley Town – None
TBA – Away – Southend United – None
Aug 31 – Reserves & Youth season begins
Article By – J.Sanderson
Any news on how things might go for Jay Simpson? Whether he will stay or go, I mean.
Nothing has been decided as yet mate, i’m sure he will get a game in pre-season, but overall i would expect him to leave.
This might sound strange but i cant wait for the Crawley Town and Southend games, it’ll be great to see the Reserve player ive watched over the past year take to the field and play against a completely professional outfit.
As for Simpson id just like to say i think he diserves a chance, even though i have my own doubts as to whether he can make a great Arsenal player. I also think Wenger has little choice seeing as hes English and has hit the media spot-light after his season with Millwall and the player of the season award.
“Nothing has been decided as yet mate, i’m sure he will get a game in pre-season, but overall i would expect him to leave.”
Do u not think he might get another season though before any final desicion is made?
I agree Johnny, it will be interesting to see how the boys can perform against Southend especially, i think it will be a really exciting and even fixture.
I’m just excited about football starting again!
what first team players do you expect to play in the barnet game?
Well.. Jay is already 19.. he will be 20 this year and will not want to play in the Reserves again. If you look at Barazite he is miles ahead of him and only 17-18, so i really cannot see where he will fit in.
also just a general question isit hard to meet the players at the training ground?
Last year it was Almunia, Toure along with the young players like Gilbert, Denilson and others. Nordtveit, Hoyte, Fonte, Lansbury, Barazite and many more came on during the second half.
you said pedro boltelho but wont he be on loan and does he have a work permit yet.
hey does anyone no where u can watch this online? im in canada. i have setanta on satellite but not arsenal tv…any ideas folks?
There is high security at Arsenal mate, at other clubs you can get autographs and stuff from the main gate.
At Barnet you can meet the players as they arrive, many people got pictures taken with the players, and met them last year.
Grant – A work permit means he cannot work for the club, he can play in a compeitive match for the club. He can travel to England, and has said in the link provided he has been invited to training.
He could play in a friendly, as he has done during his trial period.
Vince – Maybe other channels will show the games in the next weeks.
“Well.. Jay is already 19.. he will be 20 this year and will not want to play in the Reserves again. If you look at Barazite he is miles ahead of him and only 17-18, so i really cannot see where he will fit in.”
I agree with you completely but i just think Wenger has got his back up against the wall here due to the media spot light that was placed on him due to the award. I dont think for a second Jay is a better player than Barazite (although i havent seen anything of how hes improved over the last season with Millwall). Showing him the door in the summer will most likely just draw more unessesary and short sited media wrath over the whole foreign Arsenal debate.
I think the media can be really stupid over these things, and they expect every single player that comes through to make it. Wenger has treated him no differently to the other players, e.g sending him out on loan, and developing him in the normal way, but we have no need for him.
We would be doing him and ourselves no favours by just keeping him for the sake of it.
The match on 28th July is against Ritzing who they played a few years ago and drew 2-2. This has been confirmed by footballcampstyria who set up the football training camps and friendlies in Austria. I’m holidaying in Austria to coincide with the training and asked them for the fixtures. Both this match and the match in Szombathely, hungary are 18:30 kick offs.
“hey does anyone no where u can watch this online? im in canada. i have setanta on satellite but not arsenal tv…any ideas folks?”
Join Arsenal TV online mate. You can find it on the official Arsenal website. £45 a year, all pre-season friendlies are live, all reserve games a Live, highlights of the U18 games (although addmittedly only 1 and a half weeks after they’ve been played), loads of interviews and replays of past games and compatitons to enter. Plus you get radio commentary of all the first team games (they cant show they live due to legal restrictions but i think they’re trying, rather unsecussfully atm, to get the rights to do so).
“We would be doing him and ourselves no favours by just keeping him for the sake of it.”
True, and there is ofcourse the option of telling the media to go f**k themselves, which is gennerally Wengers approach, although usually done in a more gentile manner it has to be said.
haha, i wish the boss would come out and tell people to f**k off, but then we would lose some of our class.
I have ArsenalTV outstanding since signing up, some of the interviews are really annoying, e.g Adebayor and Denilson’s voice!.
But the coverage of the Reserves & Youth is first class.
I just find it strange that the club dont have the right to show there own games.
Hey anybody know where kieran Gibbs is ? JS do you if Gibbs will fit in
I cannot wait untill the Emirates Cup, gonna be great seeing Carlos debut!
JS… Would you expect Merida to feature in the Emirates Cup or will he still be on holiday, also really wanna see him play.
Gibbs is away in the Czech Republic mate, England are competing in the Under 19 European Championships next month. It begins on July 14th and runs to the 26th.
Merida is at the same compeition, and as i wrote in the article i expect he will be resting, but could get a run out.
Pumpd. I think Gibbs is in a similar situation as Simpson, although he has a slightly better chance. Traore is definately in front of him, both in terms of development and pecking order, and Vela and Walcott are miles ahead of him. Rosicky and Nasri will likely be the first choice so the only thing I can see Gibbs do this season is to play in the Carling Cup. I hope he does make it but I just can´t see him get ahead of Rosicky, Nasri, Walcott, Vela, Traore and Arshavin (I´m still asleep and dreaming).
I would really be sad if jay Leaves , I think he should be given a run in the Carling cup and Fa cup next season
Join soccerfanbase.com today
what worries me a bit is how short of a break we get from Amsterdam till we play Atletico Madrid (typical? and Reyes scores the winner) in the CL qualification.
I’m sure we will rotate the squad around, ahead of that game. Reyes only on the fringes for Atletico, and will probably be sold during the summer, so i wouldnt worry about that mate.
Another player who failed to do anything after leaving Arsenal…
Good stuff as usual JS. Just wanted to add that Setanta are actually showing five Arsenal pre-season games this summer; as well as the Barnet game, they’re covering the games against Szombathelyi Haliadas, Burgenlandin, Stuttgart, Huddersfield Town and Boreham Wood. They’re showing the Boreham Wood game on August 13th. Any reason you haven’t included it on your schedule? It’s not like you to miss anything!
I believe with the jay situation , that a chance must be given before , the claims that barazite is better than him starts getting echoed out , barazite has barely played competitive football for a first team , dont get me wrong he will be an amazing player but that fact is jay is stronger adapted his game and has done everything asked of him.Like I said a GOOD Pre Season he could be a member of the first team squad with the new 7 subs role .JUST GIVE HIM A CHANCE PLEASE
wenger will never keep anyone due to media pressure. and what media pressure will surround jay simpson anyway. he scored 8 goals in league one (the 3rd tier of english football) and won that league’s player of the year. all that does is show how horrible the 3rd tier of english football is. if the media wants to run with that and think because he scored 8 goals in the 3rd tier that he is now arsenal material then they can jog on.
Im going to the 1st day of emirates cup I cant wait to see see Vela’s debut.
I’ve read some comments on Jay on this site, and now it’s time for me to step forward. Jay is a good kid, but he is far from Arsenal class. I’ve problems to see him the the Premiership within the closest couple of years. Sorry, but he isn’t that good.
One important fact that people keep getting wrong about the award that Simpson won is that it was NOT the player of the year for League One, it was the PFA FANS player of the year for that division. I have read several millwall forums & their fans were stunned that he won the award as they don’t rate him that highly. They actually thought that AFC fans must have been voting for him.
I was so glad when we offloaded Reyes because I never rated him after about his 6th month at Arsenal. he just took a nosedive and never looked like he would recover from it. so when we sold him for good money I was well pleased. I am not surprised at his decline at Atletico at all. He ran into blind alleys too often and lost possession more times than the rest of the team put together.
Its good to know our reserves are already back in training.
3rd tier , with a sh*t team , turning into a right winger and still scoring 8 goals is a achievement it is very phsyical in the lower leagues .HE PLAYED IN A SHIT TEAM HE STOOD OUT .He won a PFA award Thousands of fans voted , thousands voted for him thats why he won.Please explain you want him 2 become some nex ronaldo score 30 goals in a season from right wing with people like alexander and robinson in your team.Please be realistic he won the fans over as he was a breath of fresh air to millwall.AND IS THE REASON THERE NOT IN THE 4TH TIER OF ENGLISH FOOTBALL
Dom//
As I said, sorry, but Jay isn’t close to be Arsenalclass. Maybe he can do good in the Champiosnhip next season, but it will take a couple of seasons for him the even reach into a team in the bottom of Premier League.
Cesc seems to believe Hleb will stay…..in conversation with guillem balague.
http://www.guillembalague.com/
OKAY SO IF ADEBAYOR LEAVES WHO DO YOU THINK J.S WE WILL GET AND WHO WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE IDEAL REPLACEMENT REALISTICLY, SAME GOES FOR THE REST OF YOU????????? PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION. AS I DONT KNOW WHY EVERYONE IS SAYING OHH ARSENAL ARE GOING FOR, SNATA CRUZ (AVERAGE), CROUCH (NO GAME TIME), AND MARIO GOMEZ (WEAK NO HIGH JUMP) THESE (*******) ARE JUST MY OPINIONS. PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOVE.
I ALSO THINK THAT WE SHOULD BE GOING FOR SOMEONE LIKE, MARTINS!!! JUST IMAGINE VAN PERSIE AND MARTINS AS OUR STRIKE FORCE NEXT SEASON. IT WOULD BE EXPLOSIVE!!!!!!!!!!
Look this: http://www.om.net/fr/Saison/101002/Infos/35464/Arrivees_departs_Toutes_les_infos_officielles
Very nice list about the departs of OM. But Nasri is the absent yet. I think it will be finish within days.
Arsenal TV will cast the games from the Amsterdam tournament and Emirates Cup too, not just Sky Sports.
Jay has come out and stated in the past that he wants to stay and fight for a chance. I dunno, I just see it being like he could get a chance (ala Hoyte) in the CC team and if he doesn’t show anything special, he’ll go in January. That or he is just sold.
Also, it’s absurd to think it will create a media furour. I don’t think i’ve ever seen him mentioned in any print media, it’s not ITV spend half their commentary time going on about the Jay Simpson Fiasco like they do with Ronaldo now is it.
Bloody hell have people’s perception of life (and you know, the media that comes with) been destroyed by refreshing newsnow constantly.
Millwallfan – i think that is a really honest assesment of Jay, we all know he is not amazing, but i think the fact he is a Gooner is why we all want him to do well more than say another player
I think Jay Simposon should be loaned of to a championship side or a new premier league team such as stoke or hull to gain more experience at a highe level
did any notice wengers comment on the russian striker pavlychenko? he said he was impressed how he always made space for his team,maybe this could be a good outside bet for adeabayors replacment.
Mingus can you give a direct link plzz
Many smaller Premiership clubs have publicly stated their desire for Arsenal loans, I don’t see why we don’t make Hull or Stoke or West Brom (especially WBA as they do try to play nice football, although a bastardised version) a young Arsenal to see if this current generation will make it. There is obviously no current space for Randall, Barazite, Simpson, Hoyte (J), Gibbs, Traore etc. to be playing regularly and in my opinion, if we can get them playing regularly against Premiership quality players still, we can see if they are worthy, get them great experience and push prices up. It will also help build our reputation with teams in a league we are dispised in. And also it would help strengthen lesser teams to play our direct rivals, while we can quite easily put in a clause for them not to play (relative stars compared to Hull’s current team) Barazite et al against us and make life just a little bit easier for ourselves. Utd bribe refs, we help smaller teams for 36 games a season.
How old is Pav… that Russian fella?
People have to remember AW is working as a football pundit at the moment. He is paid to say who is playing well at a tournament we aren’t involved in and has no real baring on who we will buy, especially as our scouting system provides detailed analysis of players over many, many games and not just how AW feels after watching a game French tv pays him to comment on.
One good thing about Simpson is that after that award hes worth something, so we can get money for him (ok probably only about 500k but thats still significant).
When i said about the media its more the fact that they know about him, and the award meens something (to them anyway, ive never really given much weight to personal awards). There have been articles written about him, ok they dont talk about him on ITV but im thinkin more about the papers. Sell him and some1 will pick up the Arsenal getting shot of good solid british talent bollocks again and being the reason England can only beat Andorra 1-0 at home and cant even qualify for a compatition anymore. To be honest i dont really care, but Wenger might, so im just saying there is a possibility he’ll keep him on, one more season, time out on loan in the championship and then sell him off when he doesnt do as well as at Millwall. Plus we’ll get alot more for him after that aswell.
Maverik: I don’t think Wenger cares so much. Especially as we are seeing the first signs of AW becoming a media darling in such respects. He has come out and commented that Arsenal are currently producing great British talent and we have even had 2 English players score in the same game! Ok, one was unfairly ruled offside, but after years of knowing AW is generally right when it comes to youths (bar Bentley, which is stilla media staple), Simpson will be no more than a small page filler. Buying Ramsey also seems to have done a lot to show that Wenger isn’t… what’s the opposite of a xenophobe?… the monster he has been portrayed as. Especially while McLaren and the FA took the beating, AW is quietly starting to produce the most exciting set of English kids since Rio, Lampard and Joe Cole came through West Ham and I think the press know and respect that. And when it’s compared to Utd’s failures, the Carling Cup is becoming increasingly helpful in changing this perception of the club and manager.
Pavlyuchencko is a player that will fit stright into the Arsenal team. The boss knows that. Losing Adebayor will not be a disaster. If the quoted £32m i’m seeing is true, I’d support cashing in on Ade, provided Arsene spends that £32m this summer on the first team. Assuming we sell Ade for £32m to Milan, I’d say: 1.Bring in Pavlyuchencko. He’ll cost £15m. We can also get David Silva with £18m. Trust me, we’d be better off offensively with Silva, Nasri and Pavlyuchencko. This Russian guy has got everything. At the highest level, finishing is key. That’s why the most venomous assassin in the PL is Torres. Torres can be quiet for 88mins but when he hits the target once, he never misses. I’ll like us to sell Hleb and Adebayor. Not because they aren’t good enough, but I feel this might be a good oppourtunity for us to tap into the emerging bulb of young talent coming through now. Pavlyuchencko will worth more very soon. We need our quick counter-attacking streak back. That aspect of Arsenal’s play has been laboured throughout last season and I feel this is as a result of a change in style and personnel. Cesc will play well alongside David Silva and having a deadly striker like Pavlyuchencko will scare the living daylights out of our rivals. If Hleb then goes for around £12m, then I’d say we bring in Zapata with that money. If it was true our £9.5m offer was recently rejected, I’m sure we can seal Zapata for £11m or £12m.
I’m sure every Arsenal fan will feel happier with such activity.
Adebayor out for £32m
Hleb out for £12m
That is £44m worth of transfer money.
Pavlyuchencko in for £15m
David Silva in for £18m
Zapata in for £11m
That is £44m well spent! These three players will improve us dramatically. That’s not including:
Nasri in for £13
Vela worth £8m
Ramsey in for £5m
I would love Adebayor to stay but him leaving cannot be a disaster. The risk to that may be that other clubs and even the players may now see Arsenal as a selling club. At times I wish we were more brave in the transfer market. i.e having something like £44m and being confident of spending it.
Pavlyunichenko is 26
daymee: I totally agree, as per usual, with your perception of things. Especially the ‘confidence’ bit. I think this is a bigger problem generated from the past 5 years than the tightened budget. Having had many years of Chelsea just waving their checkbook around has forced Wenger to look at the academy and to the more obscure players available. Now we are starting to gain a financial weight we have never had before (the money Ade will make available will look like a relative pittance in say 10 years) but we are so used to being outpriced for the more obvious players on view that we don’t seem to even have the confidence to try bidding for them.
I agree Samuel, I would like to see some of our youngsters loaned out to EPL clubs. Players like Gibbs, Randall, Merida, Lansbury, Barazite, Traore and Gavin Hoyte have to start getting some regular competitive football. I can´t see Hoyte, Gibbs or Randall ever making it here to be honest, and Traore needs to improve a lot. But Merida, Lansbury and Barazite are both very good players that I have high hopes for but I can´t see them playing much this year. Barazite will be no. 6 in the strikers order. Lansbury has still to get in shape and faces competition from more experienced Song, Denilson, Ramsey, Diaby and Djourou for the right to play with Cesc. Merida would probably play the most but honestly: Cesc plays every game and Fran will never take him out. Fran could play on either wing but in that position he would be no. 5 at the very best.
So my conclusion is that we should loan out two groups of players:
Group 1 – Players that won´t make it but we need to increase their value before we sell them. If they do very well we can bring them back but otherwise it should be a good advertisement and they can end up like Muamba, Arsenal gets a lot of money and the player is happy to play for an EPL club.
This group includes: Gavin Hoyte (Justin will be sold), Randall, Gibbs, Simpson, Murphy.
Some of those players could play in the EPL (Randall and Gibbs) while the rest should probably go one or two divisions down.
I think Rodgers, Ogogo, Foonte, Dunne and Steer will be released.
Group 2 – Players that are expected to make it at Arsenal or at least to be squad players for some years. These players only go out on loan to gain experience so they will be ready for first team football with Arsenal.
This group includes: Barazite, Merida and Lansbury. I would also like to see Mannone loaned out with a call-back option in case if Almunia or Fabianski get injured. I think all of these players could make the starting line-up with relegation battlers, or at least top Championship clubs.
Pavlyuchencko not that gd mate. torres overrated ive seen him quite a few simple shots like every match or 2nd match he plays
Pavlyuchencko not that gd mate. torres overrated ive seen him miss quite a few simple shots like every match or 2nd match he plays
Stone: The way MANY teams have come out wanting Young Gun loans (oh, and I forgot Bruce! He’d love ’em), I think most could start. It would be great to see Hull try a team like:
Mannone
Hoyte – Nordveidt – SP – Traore
Randall – Lansbury – Merida – Gibbs
Barazite – Simpson
They can have 1 player :D
It would be a cracking experiment, although I dunno if it’s allowed. I think you are only allowed something like 4 u21 loan players, or maybe thats 4 altogether, to stop say Chelsea buying teams squads to make certain outcomes of games.
J mentioned the other day in a comment though how awkward it was that the current academy players, those say too old for the reserves, good enough to keep but not there yet, are in a state of flux. I’d love it if Friar and co are currently going ‘Ok, Wigan desperately need a lw, Gibbs could start regularly, he can go there’ etc.
Ok, I go cook and watch el football.
pavlyuchencko aint that good, he misses alot of chances so he aint the venomous striker ur making him out to be daymee, an how can u so accuratley predict the exact value that all these different clubs will accept??
Guys, why is everything getting quiet about Nasri? I haven’t heard anything in 1 and a half day.
Arsenal are getting to that stage where big decision will have to be made concerning the futures of the young reserves. Last season our 2nd team wasn’t strong enough and it was very obvious. Lansbury or Merida couldn’t get into the first team. Worse still, some players in our starting 11 last season were not supposed to be playing in the first team. One of those is Eboue.
IMO Wenger needs to first decide to strengthen the second string by relegating some players into Team B, then re-organise the Team A players. That will mean releasing ‘burden’ in the squad.
Unfortunately some young ones would have to be released and some go on loan. If Arsenal are really serious about solidifying the whole squad some Team A players need to be picked out for further assessment in training and relegated to Team B. These players will have to convince the manager of their worth. I will include the following players:
1. Eboue
2. Traore
3. Diaby
4. Bendtner
5. Gilberto
6. Hoyte
7. Lansbury
8. Senderos
9. Djourou
10.Barazite
These are the players I can remember for now.
Denilson and Song should be given more playing time, expecting one of them to fill the DM spot.
We need a CB urgently who can push Gallas and Toure for their places. Then I hope Arsenal 11 look like this:
Almunia
Sagna
Toure/Zapata
Gallas
Clichy
Cesc
Denilson/Song
Nasri
Rosicky (fitness?)
Santa Cruz
Adebayor (if he stays)
Spain’s No. 10 > Russia’s No. 10
guiza is good, along with silva, two players weve been linked with ideal replacements for Adebayor and Hleb
Just finished watching Russia v Spain.
Wasn’t the classic I was expecting. I cannot express enough how disappointed I am with Russia’s performance. It was like a different Russian team that played against Holland.
On hindsight, the Spanish dominated them from start to finish. The trident of Puyol,Marchena and Senna choked Arshavin and Pavlyuchencko. The defensive organisation of Spain was superb and Sergio Gomes even had the luxury of overlapping all game, whilst Capdevilla was more cautious. Puyol and Marchena communicated well with Casillas (a world class keeper).
As soon as Fabregas came in after David Villa felt a tweak in his thigh, the game changed. Fabregas took total control. He was the reason behind that 3-0 result and Aragones did well to spot that by removing Xavi to give Fabregas more room to operate.
I also Iniesta played particularly well and Aragones really needs to think about his line up for the final. If Fabregas is kept on the bench against Germany, then Spain will concede first. Fabregas was involved in all the 3 goals, creating the second and third goals. I’m totally proud of Cesc and I hope Wenger is bold enough to bring in a Spanish player in that team to support Fabregas in the middle of the Arsenal team.
One thing this game tells me is the importance of having a solid spine. Senna is a rock and Wenger needs to break his own rules. Arsenal seriously needs Senna, regardless of how old he is. He is quick and solid in the DM role and will more than replace Flamini.
Even if Wenger cannot afford Villa or Silva, it is important to bring in Senna. Senna nullified Arshavin today. Arshavin was playing in between Puyol and Senna, towards the left. There was no way he was going to penetrate that organisation, whilst Sergio Gomes was overlapping. Arshavin had no chance as the back 4 pushed up the defence line. These guys have been together long enough. They’ve lost games together and there is great understanding between Spain’s defence and midfield.
Where Arsenal is concerned, I’m confused about the understanding between these two departments at Arsenal. Silva will be important but I feel Wenger will not bid over £12m for him. Silva will not go for that price, so it’s almost certain we wont get him.
Arshavin is a good player, but he needs to play in a particular team that will suit him. If he goes to Barca, he will enjoy himself. But for how long?
Daymee what are you on about Diaby played well this season. Bendtner scored a goal every other start and has 5 goals in his last 7 internatioals and Gilberto is still a class player hence hes still a full international. The others youve listed i can understand but them i dont have a clue why uve put them on that list thats just stupid. Also as long as hes right back cover Eboue is good enough to play there.
Also if you hadnt realised Diaby is infront of both Denilson and Song in the CDM pecking order as hes a quality player hes just not a winger!, imagine if Cesc played on the wing i dont think he’d do that great so stop overly crisising descent players.
Guiza is a good finisher, but nothing more. That’s not a slate, but a fact. I can’t imagine the lethargicity of a strike force if you removed Adebayor and replaced him with Guiza. Ugh.
David Silva is a class player. I must admit, I thought he was a bit too stale for a team like Arsenal, but he’s really proved me wrong. He’s very mobile, has a great first touch, powerful shot, and what awareness problems he may or may not have would be corrected with age. In short, he’s the total package and surely Valencia cannot be too stingy considering their financial position.
I just wanted to add that I do believe Hleb and Adebayor will both say. I read somewhere how someone said “once they get into training, Wenger will put his arm around the player and use his Gaelic charm to convince him to stay.” Whoever said that, well said.
For F**ks sake, Ade aint even out the door yet and your already mentally replaceing him. Hes young, just had a great season, and hasnt even reached his prime yet. He claims to want to stay and personally ill give him the benefit of the doubt. If he leaves Wenger will have planned for that eventuality and will have a replacement to bring in, and knowing Wenger it wont be Pavlywassit, Villa or Guiza but some1 cheeper and better.
Some1 else mentioned Cesc saying he thought Hleb would stay, well he said the same thing about Flamini. Cesc is a wonderful lad and he loves Arsenal and playing for Arsenal but he doesnt seem to realise that not all players, even his team mates think like that, and most are willing to walk out on any Club for 10k a week extra.
I also dont like all this proove talk, yea Sendaros and Hoyte have to show they are good enough to stay here, Eboue needs to show he can recreate the good form he showed in his first season here, but other than that no1 needs to proove anything, they just need to keep playing, and improving at the rate they are.
Finnally Gilberto is with us for another season and then hes off back to Brazil. Hes still good enough, maybe not to start every game all season but he can do a job for us and do it well, like JohnV said, hes still good enough for Brazil and thats gotta tell u something. Hes been a great player for this club and has made his mark on Arsenal history, no hes not a Charlie George or a Tony Adams but hes achieved with us and for us so i hope he has a good last season and we give him the same kind of send off we gave Jens.
And daymee, are you suggesting we replace Van Persie with Santa Cruz? Santa Cruz is a good player but we’d have to pay Blackburn 15mil+ for him, and how is he better than Van Persie?
Also all you people calling for us to buy this striker and that striker, remember that if Ade stays we have:
Adebayor – One of the best strikers in Europe and he can onyl get better.
Van Persie – On his Day simply incredible and if he can manage a largly injury free season he’ll be massive for us.
Eduardo – Will be back far sooner than we origionally thought and hes one of the best finishers i saw last season, hes got more than a good shot aswell.
Bendtner – A young player whos improving game by game and starting to put in some really impressive performances for Club and Country.
Vela – A player who lit the U17 world cup and managed to impress and hold down a place in La Liga at the age of 19.
Walcott – Potentially the English answer to Messi.
If we need a player or two its definatley not a striker.
Johnny Maverik-
Exactly where did I say I saw this or that player replacing Ade? Exactly where did I say he was gone? You either did not read my stuff, or you have the memory of a goldfish because I explicitly said I don’t believe Ade is leaving. I was merely musing because this season seems like the season of replacement and before people start harking for this player or that I wanted to make my opinion of Guiza known, after all this is area is meant for discussion. I don’t know what you have stuck up your arse but please remove it before further discussion because my post didn’t merit you trying to deconstruct it. Mentally replacing him? Who gives a flying monkey’s what you or I do mentally, because at the end of the day we have no say in affairs. It is my right to discuss and analyze players freely and openly without having to deal with others’ putting words in my mouth. Thank you.
ctroberts89, i wasnt replying to u, it was Daymee that said about cashing in on Ade, sorry if i gave u the wrong impression, to be honest it was just a general rant in the end.
I was also trying to make the point that we dont have any say in affairs as you also just pointed out (alot better than i managed to) as well as the point that we dont need strikers (thats just a general response to all the striker evaluations going on). I agree with you about Guiza, good finisher but nothing more and not a touch on Ade, whats more i agree with you on Silva and i Hope Hleb and Adebayor stay aswell, and i believe Ade will (maybe im muisguided i dont know, but i dont think he’ll jump ship).
If my post came accross as a personal attack on your post then i apologise cuz thats really not how i meant it, it was actually directed at posts further up the page. The only bit that was directed to u in any way was the bit about Hleb, but not what u said, just that it made me remember some1 earlier saying Cesc thought he’d stay, where as i dont think he will (i also believe hes not that irreplacable so if he does go its not a disaster).
Cheers then Johnny. I’m glad to hear it wasn’t directed at me.
I think Ade is essential to the cause. He not only scored 30 goals, but he creates an unbelievable amount of space for others. To have a possible strike force of Ade’s physicality coupled with RvP’s affinity for the spectacular is a terrifying proposition for opposing defenders. Here’s hoping we get that this year. If not, I have quite a bit of faith that Bendtner, Walcott, et al will provide enough attacking impetus when they’re out. The bottom line is that Wenger will not sign a striker unless one is sold, and I cannot see that happening.
Cant disagree with you there mate.
http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=YQJTZSWf5AE Hopefully this season will be even better than previous one. Can’t wait for Barnet game…
daymee, how can you say Eboue should not be in the first team? he provides an excellent cover for Sagna coming up and is one of the reason why ex-striker Sagna has contributed so much offensively. I must admit as well I have my doubts about Hoyte, sadly for a true Gooner, as well as Senderos. All though Senderos did perform extremely well during the last half of the champions league final season, he has sadly not achieved that consistency again. Nortveit and Song are two very exciting prospects.The acquisition of Nasri is an amazing one, technichal fast creative dribler and one that can in time replace the creative void after Bergkamp
ah…and yes I say the acquisition of Nasri even though not ready. Think Marseille want Ben Arfa presented at the same time, maybe to please the fans maybe for Arsenal not to grab him. That is the reason why I personally think it has been dragging on
Diaby’s ability to shift between defensive and offensive midfielder can also be great this season.
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